1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to electrical interconnection assemblies and, more particularly, to electrical interconnections to printed circuit boards.
2. Description of the Related Art
A computer system generally includes: at least one printed circuit board (PCB), a computer chassis and peripherals interconnected to the PCBs. Often, a PCB includes conductive pads disposed along an edge of the PCB. When that board-edge of the PCB is inserted into a board-edge connector, the conductive pads resiliently engage corresponding contacts of the board-edge connector.
Often, a board-edge connector is used to electrically interconnect components on a PCB to peripherals such as an analog board for a video display, a hard disk drive or a floppy disk drive. Alternatively, "headers" directly upstanding from the PCB face often are used to interconnect components on a PCB to such peripherals.
In some cases, multiple headers and board-edge connectors are used to interconnect a PCB to peripherals.
One problem associated with such multiple placement of interconnections is that, upon assembly of the computer, the interconnections between the peripherals and the PCBs require several assembly steps to complete the interconnections. Computers systems often are mass produced and such additional assembly procedures may increase manufacturing costs.
Thus, there has been a need for a connector which can simplify computer assembly steps relating to interconnections of a PCB to peripherals. The present invention meets these needs.